-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- As far as hitchhikers go , this one looks harmless enough . He or she -- it 's hard to tell -- is short and friendly , if a little fashion-challenged .

Get him talking , however , and he wo n't shut up .

Meet hitchBOT , a talking , tweeting , bucket-bodied Canadian robot that 's hitchhiking west from Halifax , Nova Scotia , to Victoria , British Columbia -- a journey of nearly 4,000 miles . The robot employs artificial intelligence , speech recognition , social media and other tools to bum rides from motorists .

Deposited last Monday on Highway 102 outside Halifax , hitchBot by Friday had journeyed to just west of Toronto . Its travels are being documented on Twitter , on Instagram and on the robot 's website , which charts its progress on a map .

The gender-neutral robot was conceived by university researchers David Harris Smith and Frauke Zeller , who view its quest as part performance art , part social experiment .

As they see it , humans in popular science fiction are always wondering whether they can trust robots . Instead , they 'd like to turn the question around :

Can robots trust human beings ?

So far , the answer appears to be yes . Three young men gave hitchBOT a ride , bought it a stuffed animal and fed it a `` meal '' of metal screws and motor oil . A couple covered hitchBOT with a plastic cape to keep it safe from the rain . And people have been recharging hitchBOT along the way by plugging it into their cars ' cigarette lighters .

`` People seem to be rather intrigued with hitchBOT , and take very good care -LRB- of it -RRB- , '' said Smith , a communications and multimedia professor at McMaster University in Hamilton , Ontario , and Zeller , a communications professor at Ryerson University in Toronto , in a statement e-mailed to CNN .

`` We have even seen hitchBOT lying in a camping bed under a blanket , and sitting on a toilet , '' they said , `` so people certainly have fun with it . ''

hitchBOT has a bucket for a torso , blue swimming-pool noodles for arms and legs and a smiling LED panel for a face , protected by a cake saver . It wears yellow gloves on its hands , and wellies -- rubber boots -- on its feet . Inside is a simple tablet PC and some components from Arduino , the open-source electronics platform . Together , all the parts cost about $ 1,000 .

`` We wanted to see what we can build on a shoestring budget ... and with tools/components that one can get in any hardware store , '' Smith and Zeller said .

Thanks to its computerized innards and speech software , hitchBOT can answer basic questions , make small talk and recite info from Wikipedia . It can also get pretty chatty , not always something you want in a road-trip companion .

`` We knew that sometimes ... hitchBOT wo n't be able to properly understand what people are saying . For these cases , we came up with the solution to let hitchBOT simply chatter away , '' its creators said . `` We taught hitchBOT to say that sometimes it gets a bit carried away , and that its programmers could only write that many scripts , hoping for people to be patient . ''

hitchBOT records its journey via GPS . It contains a camera and snaps random photos every half hour or so , which are moderated before being posted online to protect people 's privacy . It also can record conversations with people it meets -- with their permission -- as a sort of audio diary .

Humans who encounter hitchBOT are directed to its website , where instructions tell them how to handle the robot -LRB- tip : drop it off at rest stops or gas stations instead of alone on busy highways -RRB- .

hitchBOT 's final destination is the Open Space artist center in Victoria , British Columbia , which means the robot will likely have to hitch a ride on a boat . Nobody knows exactly how long his cross-country trip will take .

Smith and Zeller say the goal of their project is to examine the relationship between humans and `` smart '' technologies while seeing whether an anthropomorphic robot can engender good will , cooperation and even affection .

The two researchers are worried that someone might mistreat hitchBOT . But the journey 's success so far has allayed their fears a little .

`` We have seen so much support on social media and through other channels that we are now more optimistic , '' they said . `` They -LRB- the robot 's drivers -RRB- all say that wherever they go with hitchBOT , they meet lots of people through it .

`` Everybody stops , takes pictures , and wants to talk ... so this is an interesting case of technology bringing humans closer to each other . ''

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A talking robot is hitchhiking west from Halifax , Nova Scotia , to Victoria , British Columbia

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Called hitchBOT , it uses artificial intelligence and speech software to communicate

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It relies on human drivers to ferry it from place to place

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As of Friday the robot had reached Toronto